


A New Kingdom, A New Love

by DearestElizaSchuyler



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Cheryl Bombshell, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Feelings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Jarchie - Freeform, M/M, Multi Chapter, Pops - Freeform, Realising Feelings, Riverdale, Rivergays, Sadness, beronica, choni, cuteness, happiness, river vixens - Freeform, valarchie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 22:23:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16921527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearestElizaSchuyler/pseuds/DearestElizaSchuyler
Summary: When she first found out her dad was guilty, Veronica cried for the first time in 10 years.Veronica Lodge moves to Riverdale with intentions. Betty Cooper helps her with some and changes others.





	A New Kingdom, A New Love

When she first found out her dad was guilty, Veronica cried for the first time in 10 years. The last time was when she had scraped her knee on the playground but Hiram had picked her up, carried her over to the ice cream stall 5 minutes away then put her on the bench. After he’d bought her an ice cream, he wiped her knee with his hand and although it was rough, it felt gentle to Veronica. He put a small plaster on the graze before telling her she was a brave girl. Her tears soon stopped. She had always been a daddy’s girl, she didn’t know how she was going to cope. So she just stayed curled up in bed, crying. When Hermione told her they would be moving to Riverdale, she mostly felt relieved to get a change of scenery but part of her didn’t want to leave. That meant saying goodbye to New York, her old life, saying goodbye to her father. Veronica wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Alas, she didn’t have a choice, Hermione had already decided they were going. So Veronica packed her things, refusing to say goodbye to the city. She waved to their doorman, telling him she would see him later and they left.

Riverdale was nothing like she expected. It was tiny yet full of life, seemingly drab yet parts of it were nothing but colour. They had gotten settled in their new home, the Pembrooke but they were both exceedingly tired and hungry. Veronica offered to go collect their food from Pop’s and Hermione gratefully gave her directions, happy her daughter was taking the move well. Well, as well as could be expected of Veronica. Veronica soon found the lively restaurant, it was hard to miss with it’s neon sign and seemingly bubbly atmosphere. She walked in confidently, as her father always said ‘You can never convince someone you’re confident after the first meet. Without confidence, you cannot survive’. “Order for Lodge?” She says politely to an elderly man, who she assumed must be Pop’s before turning around to the table next to her. Sitting there was a boy and a girl, both seemingly positive. “How are the onion rings here?” She asked inquisitively. Getting a glowing reply from the redheaded boy, she called to Pop to ask him to add onion rings to the order. “Hi! I’m Archie Andrews. And this is Betty Cooper” He gestured to his blonde counterpart. “Veronica Lodge” She spoke, her usual tone of danger and polite evident. Veronica turned to Betty, smiling. She hadn’t smiled in what felt like forever but something just felt...right. “Are you?” Betty grinned at her happily, as if they were old friends. “Supposed to give you your tour tomorrow? Yup”. She smiled “I look forward to it”. Pop arrived at that moment with the Lodge’s food, handing it to her and she thanked him. “See you around Archie. Betty.” She gave her one last smile before heading back to the Pembrooke, eager to sate her hunger. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow, Betty seemed amazing and she needed a friend in this place. 

“We're blue! And gold! We're dynamite! We'll take you down, and fight the fight! Whoo! Go, Bulldogs!” Betty and Veronica enthusiastically cheered, Veronica having convinced Betty into trying out. They had spent all of last night perfecting a routine and were now coming to the end of it, feeling pleased with themselves. Cheryl, however, was less than enthusiastic as she critiqued them and trying to save face, Veronica quickly told Cheryl she hadn’t seen the big finish yet and pulled Betty in for a kiss. It didn’t mean anything, Veronica had kissed plenty of her girl friends back in New York to practice for boys. Betty on the other hand was shocked to the core. She had never done anything like this yet she found herself kissing Veronica back. It was different, different to how boys kissed, Betty thought. But soon the pair had pulled away and the kiss was over as soon as it had began. Cheryl rolled her eyes and insulted the pair about their last display before beginning to verbally attack Betty. She didn’t know what to say, her nails digging into her palms. She didn’t mean to do it but it was a coping mechanism, she’d been doing it for as long as she could remember. Maybe this was a bad idea, Betty thought, her anxiety getting the better of her. But then she saw Veronica start to attack the devil incarnate herself, unfazed by the queen bitch of Riverdale High yet still enraged at her comments. Maybe Betty liked having Veronica as a friend. As Veronica delivered her final lashing to Cheryl, she turned on her heels and walked out, gesturing for Betty to do the same. Yeah, Betty decided, she liked having Veronica as a friend.

They sat in their newly ordained booth at pop’s, drinking their milkshakes. While Veronica hadn’t been in Riverdale long but they had already decided this would be their spot. Veronica swallowed down a sip of thick, chocolate milkshake before looking up at Betty, importance and causality in the same look. “You’re okay about that kiss right? We can still be friends yeah? Because I’d hate to lose a friend over a silly kiss”. Betty finished a sip of her own milkshake, looking at Veronica with a confused look. “Of course, that’d be silly to stop being friends with you just because we kissed”. Veronica smiled at Betty again, a dab of milkshake at the edge of her mouth. She held her hands out and took Betty’s hands in her own “Good. Because I can already tell you’re gonna be an important person to me”. Betty laughed but smiled all the same at Veronica “I hope we never cease to be friends Veronica”.


End file.
